Glendale Unable to Keep Up With No.1 Santa Monica

For the first half of its game against Santa Monica College, the Glendale basketball team was clinging to Coach Brian Beauchemin’s maxim--a young, inexperienced team can upset a better team.

The Vaqueros are all first-year players. Santa Monica has seven returning players from a team that was 27-8 last season.

But as evidenced by his play Wednesday night, Santa Monica forward Keith Amerson does not subscribe to Beauchemin’s theory.

Amerson scored 12 of his career-high 28 points in the second half as the Corsairs overcame a one-point halftime deficit to win, 85-71, at Glendale.

“They are just too strong,” Beauchemin said of Santa Monica (26-3, 11-0), which has won 14 consecutive games and is ranked No. 1 in the state. “And we didn’t do ourselves any favors by not executing what we were supposed to do.”

What the Vaqueros were supposed to do was surgically dismantle Santa Monica’s full-court press. At times, however, it looked as though the Vaqueros’ hands had been surgically removed.

Glendale had little difficulty handling the Corsairs’ halfcourt defense, but when Santa Monica ran the 2-1-2 press the Vaqueros needed 911.

And Amerson wasted little time in capitalizing on Glendale’s miscues. He had three steals in the first five minutes and scored 10 of Santa Monica’s first 14 points.

Trailing, 27-20, with five minutes to play in the half, the Vaqueros mounted a 12-4 rally that was sparked by three-point baskets by Dave Swanson and Gary Fowler. Bruce Heicke made two free throws with two seconds to play, giving Glendale a 32-31 lead at intermission.

At which point Amerson and teammate DeShawn Pullard held a conversation.

“He told me that whenever he saw a guy on my back he’d bounce it to me so I could take it to the hole,” said Amerson, who lives with Pullard. “He knows how I play and I know him, so that’s a plus.”

Pullard was true to his word and fed Amerson in the paint for six points in a row to open the second half. The Corsairs, who earlier had missed several easy shots in the key, began to click and outscored Glendale, 22-6, in the first eight minutes of the second half. Santa Monica led, 63-44, with 8:31 to play and was long gone.

Fowler led Glendale with 15 points. Heicke added 11 and Swanson, Alex Berry and Tony Lopez each scored 10.

“Hopefully this won’t happen next year,” Beauchemin said. “Because right now I’m miserable.”